Showmance
by dooski
Summary: Everyone thinks Max and Alec are together. Wait… that means they have to actually act like it, doesn’t it? Enter the showmance!
1. Meet The Parents

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Dark Angel or the characters  
**Setting**: After Love Among the Runes; Freak Nation occurred, too... but Logan stayed away during the flag raising ceremony  
**Genre**: Humor, Romance  
**Pairings:** see intro, please!  
**Rating**: T (as always!)

* * *

**intro**: Max is still in love with Logan. At least, that's what she thinks. Logan's over Max. At least, that's what he thinks. Alec's just there for the ride, no strings attached. At least, that's what he thinks. Asha's loving that Logan is finally hers. At least, that's what she thinks. Everything is right in everyone's little world. But someone's faking. At least, that's what they think. And then there's that question that complicates things even further: Is there ever any truth in pretend?

* * *

**Chapter 1: Meet the Parents**

Max tapped her smooth, acrylic nails against the counter nervously. _Nervous? Me? _Shit, it was true. She couldn't shake the scary thought of what was to come. Leave it to Logan to insist on a double date.

_Double date? Yeah, this night is going to be a complete joke! _The fact was Max couldn't help being slightly offended that the man had moved on. It wasn't so much that he could go on without her, it was that he'd done it so quickly!

As much as she pretended that she was completely over the guy, and had fallen steadfast in love with Alec, it was all just a big, orchestrated lie.

Well… at least, that was what the plan was. But for the first couple of weeks, it wasn't very hard. In fact, Max almost forgot telling the little white lie.

_Almost._ That is, until Logan reminded her when he invited the pair to go on a double date with him and Asha. It wasn't that hard pretending to be with Alec when Logan wasn't there to watch.

And it wasn't like the transgenics were suspicious of the two really being together or not. The whole place had been just a bit preoccupied with setting up their city to really focus on some minor detail like that.

Plus, she and Alec had been working together for a while now, and closely. No one in Terminal City could tell that it wasn't the truth. But now it seemed that Max's lie was going to catch up with her.

Alec was the only one that knew it wasn't true, other than Max, of course. At least for the time being. She just hoped that it wouldn't all be ruined with this stupid 'date'.

It was completely annoying, the whole situation. Max knew Logan. He wasn't exactly the 'dating' type. Well, if you didn't count his home-cooked meals. For all the money he had, hitting up the town wasn't really his style. It was like he'd set up the whole evening as some sort of test. For both of them. He probably wasn't entirely sure of Max being with Alec _or _himself being with Asha.

_Damnit, Max!_ she thought to herself as she traced the outline of her full lips with a thin shade of a light scarlet. _I should have told him I couldn't make it!_ Excuses were getting to be natural for her. Why couldn't she think of a good one when Logan had put her on the spot with the invitation a few days ago?

The truth was, when she'd first told Logan that she and Alec were together, Max hadn't really been looking that far into the future. It was a temporary fix that she'd filed under 'deal with later'.

Apparently, 'later' had come far sooner than she'd first anticipated.

Max applied the bronze color to her cheeks, not that they needed it. She was flushed enough as it was just thinking about all of the ways this whole thing could go wrong.

Alec was dependable, sure, as hard as that realization had been for her to make. But he was still Alec. He still liked to push her buttons, get her worked up to no end. There was no telling what he would do, given all the opportunities.

Tonight, he could technically do whatever he wanted. The plan was to survive the evening with their 'togetherness' still intact and unquestioned.

Even though Logan had moved on, Max wasn't so sure she trusted him to stay away if suddenly his old flame became available. Especially not if he knew that there was never anything there with Alec to begin with and that the whole thing had been a charade.

The thin bottle of mascara flew out of Max's hands as a light rapping on the door startled her out of her thoughts.

She thrust it open, sending a wave of surprise to Alec in the haste action- right before another wave of surprise hit him as he took in the strange situation he'd unwillingly stumbled upon- staring at a Max wearing make-up, a complimenting red dress, and… well… being girly!

"…Max?" he addressed her as though he wasn't entirely certain that it was her. As he stared at her, his lips twitched upward in a light grin. He couldn't help finding amusement, and maybe a hint of pleasure, in the sight.

Max glared back at him. She couldn't believe that of all people, _Alec_ was making her feel self-conscious. Of course, it wasn't really him at all, just the anticipation of the evening getting to her. But that didn't stop her from pushing some of the blame onto him. "What?" she spat at him and the dazed look he was giving her, wanting to rip the cocky grin right off his face.

"Oh," he held up his hands as though brushing aside his initial uncertainty. "Sorry, I just wasn't sure I had the right room. Who are you, and what have you done with my girlfriend?"

Max slapped him upside the head.

"Ah… _there _she is," he commented, rubbing the sore spot dramatically.

"I'm not your girlfriend!" she snapped defensively.

He rolled his eyes. "Riiiight. Max, wasn't it _you _that demanded I be here to pick you up for a date?"

She shrugged. "So what if I did? You _know _it's not a real date. We just have to make an appearance."

Alec nodded with an amused grin. "Oh, an appearance. Keep the Logan radar at yellow alert instead of red."

Max frowned at him. "This isn't funny, Alec!" she scolded him. She stared at the ceiling before shaking her head at him. "I knew you wouldn't take this seriously. You think this is all just one big joke!"

Alec tossed her a doubtful stare. She couldn't be serious. …Then again, that was the problem. "Come on, Max. You expect me to take this whole thing as seriously as you do? _You're _the one who came up with this whole ridiculous idea in the first place! Me, I'm not gonna get so worked up over this."

Max gave him a somewhat desperate stare. It seemed this was one of those rare, golden moments when she had to admit that she needed him. She grabbed onto his arm, forcing his attention toward her, as if it was anywhere else to begin with. "Alec, just don't screw this up. Please."

_Agh! God, there, she's said it!_ In one little word (or was it that pleading stare?) Max had rendered him unable to say no. She hadn't even asked nicely! She just expected it of him. And even though part of him wanted absolutely nothing to do with her mind games with Logan, he couldn't help agreeing as though he'd been in on the plan from the start.

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" he pointed out, to emphasize where his loyalties lay.

Max didn't bother verbally accepting (or thanking for that matter!) his unwilling dedication to the plan. But it was clear that the comment had helped to ease some of her tension, as she was back to her usual self with her next comment. "You're early," she complained lightly as she turned her attention back toward the mirror to finish applying the mascara.

Alec nodded. "Man… this already feels like a date," he mumbled in annoyance.

"It _is _a date," she argued, directly contradicting what she'd said from earlier. "At least, that's what Logan thinks. And I'd like to keep it that way."

For a moment, Alec considered pointing out the confusing way she kept changing how she referred to the pair, but he let go of the idea quickly, not wanting to fuel the fire of Max any more. (At least, not until they were in public and there was nothing she could do about it!)

"Well did I ever tell you I'm not the 'dating' type?" he commented instead. He said it simply to complain, something he found himself doing quite often around Max, thanks to several of her ridiculous schemes. At least in other plans of hers, he could kick some ass. Well, except for that time he found himself in the sewers…and trapped in a closet for over an hour… and…

Max stared at him, briefly shocked that his words directly paralleled her earlier thoughts of Logan. For some reason, she didn't want there to be _any _similarities between the men.

"Yeah, right!" she dismissed his comment. "You're probably the guy that throws rocks at her window until she humors you by listening to some sad rendition of a cheesy love ballad."

Alec couldn't help laughing, despite the insult. Her determination to insult him brought him amusement in a twisted way. "Yeah, and you're probably the girl that runs as soon as he mentions 'meeting the parents'."

Max frowned at his portrayal of her would-be typical romance. Even though a 'normal' relationship was completely beyond Max, thanks in no small part to that tiny detail that she was a genetically engineered killing machine escaped from a government lab, it offended her to be judged like a complete commitment-phobe.

"Excuse me," she argued his opinion of her. "Have a little faith in me, will ya? If I _really _cared about a guy, I'd stomach meeting his parents."

Alec nodded in mock acceptance of her comment. _Right! _he thought sarcastically to himself. He'd sooner see Max wearing an apron and cooking in the kitchen than see her at an awkward dinner with 'the parents'.

Coincidentally, it just occurred to Alec how similar their coming evening was to just that- meeting the 'rents. Heck, Log' was old enough to be her father. Ha… okay, maybe that was a _bit _exaggerated. But certainly, the evening had the feel of a test to see if mommy and daddy approved of his relationship with Max.

"You know, Max," Alec told her, "I don't have any parents to meet." He finished with his trademark smirk and a suggestive wiggling of his brow.

She rolled her eyes at the gesture. "Save it, Pretty Boy. My stomach's in a knot as it is, and I have to eat something later tonight."

---------------------------------------------------------

Alec couldn't help being a bit distracted from his driving as Max checked herself out in the side mirror for the umpteenth time.

"Max, will you cut it out already!" he snapped, though not aggressively, at her. "You look fine!" he reassured her.

Or at least, it should have reassured her. Instead, however, she turned toward him, her face not at all showing appreciation or reassurance. In fact, Alec was fairly certain that if looks could kill, well… let's just say the car would have crashed for lack of a driver. "Fine?!" she repeated. "I didn't spend an hour in the bathroom for 'fine', Alec!"

In between focusing on the road, Alec noted that she definitely looked well beyond 'fine'. If he'd known she was going to pick apart his every word, he would have chosen them more carefully. Although she was normally critical of his every action, she didn't tend to get _this _extreme.

"Okay, you look… stunning," he told her honestly, giving her an encouraging, albeit somewhat taken aback, stare.

Max gave him a warm smile. She didn't know why she was being so self-conscious. Scratch that, she knew why. It wasn't every night that a pretend relationship was under scrutiny. She was an excellent liar; she'd been undercover in far worse situations and fared just fine. But the nature of _this _cover was completely unsettling for her. She had no problem just being Alec's friend. But pretending to be more than that right in front of the guy she was still attached to in her heart had a way of unraveling her normally confident façade.

Alec felt a warm rush of relief travel through _him _as he noted the grin she was giving him. It had bothered him, for a good minute there, realizing she wasn't aware of her effect on him. Or any guy, for that matter. He hadn't been kidding with the compliment. In fact, as self-conscious as her words indicated that she currently was, she looked completely confident. She was actually glowing.

_Wait, that's more than glowing…_As Alec looked at her, a ray of light reflected in the right spot, causing him to squint at a light coming from her face, shining into his eyes. "Are you wearing _glitter?_" he asked in complete shock.

Max's gratitude quickly faded into irritation. His reaction was just like earlier, when he'd acted like he didn't even recognize her. _Am I not allowed to dress up once in a while?_ she thought angrily.

"Okay, what?" she demanded.

Alec quickly turned his sights back to the road to avoid her angry stare.

"What?" she repeated, more forcefully.

"Sorry, driving here," he reminded her, as if she'd forgotten or had somehow gone blind _and _deaf within the past thirty seconds.

"Alec!" Max demanded his attention and response.

Wha… I don't know. What are you asking me?" he replied without looking at her.

"_What_ is so strange about seeing me dressed up! I _am _a girl, you know!" she complained.

Alec couldn't help laughing lightly. Did she really think he _hadn't _noticed? Was she completely oblivious to the way his temperature increased whenever she entered the room? Or that initial moment when he was lost in the gorgeous sight of her before his senses pulled that cocky smirk onto his face in quick recovery? Only a blind person would be able to ignore how attractive she was.

"I've noticed, Max," he told her. "There's no question. You're definitely a woman."

Max was unnerved slightly in the way he answered. But she quickly brushed it off with a change of subject. "So are we there yet? I don't want to be late."

Alec rolled his eyes. "Oh, heaven forbid we make Logan wait. Listen, Max. I'm pretty sure that Asha can keep him occupied."

For an instant immediately following the remark, her eyes shone with hurt, before she recovered with a determined stare set on the road. _Oops_, Alec noted to himself. _Damn. She _still _isn't over the guy._

Another thought brought the smirk back to his face. _I guess I have a challenge after all…_

---------------------------------------------

Alec eyed the place apprehensively as a bored feeling overtook any excitement he might have had in the evening. _Agh, are you kidding me? _Leave it to Logan to pick the fanciest, stuffiest place in town. _Thank goodness I wore a suit_, he thought to himself.

He pulled the suit jacket quickly out of the trunk and whipped it on. He felt a feeling creep up his spine, telling him Max was staring at him. And not in one of those usual 'you're an idiot' sort of ways.

In fact, as his hazel eyes rose to meet hers, he recognized the look of amusement that normally came from him, only this time, it was resting in Max's eyes as she gazed upon him.

"What?" he asked her innocently as he looked to the left and right, like her stare must be directed at someone else.

Max shook her head just as innocently. "Oh, nothing," she said, though still grinning. "Just… never seen you in a suit before, that's all."

"Do I look 'fine'?" he asked her with a smirk, mocking her own concerns from earlier.

He could have sworn that a scarlet tint burned onto her cheeks at the question. But then again, she was wearing makeup, so maybe that was all it was.

"You could say that," Max answered simply.

Alec nodded, eager to change the subject, if only to avoid letting Max know the way in which he obtained the suit, which wasn't exactly legal.

"Shall we?" he told her with a cheesy smile, his eyes shining into hers. He held out his arm dramatically for her to take.

Max rolled her eyes before intertwining her arm in his. "I can't believe we're doing this," she confessed to him as they walked toward the door.

"I'm just here for the free food," Alec insisted, although both knew there was no way that was true. For one, Alec didn't exactly prefer this type of dining. Not to mention, he was 'talented' enough to never have to pay for a meal in his life, if he chose to do so.

But that had been his only way of accepting her pleading for him to come and make a complete mockery out of himself. _I've been reduced to a boy-toy_, Alec thought to himself, keeping the groan inward.

Not that he would mind traveling all over town with a lady like Max on his arm, especially when she was faking, and therefore, polite and seemingly interested in him. It was just that it kinda hurt. Even though he'd told Max before that he didn't appreciate her using him, he also had tried hard to keep his own feelings bottled up. For good reason. If Max knew how he really felt about her, it would only complicate things further. Besides, it wasn't like he could hide the truth entirely. She had to know somewhere deep down. But it was like an unspoken agreement existed between the two of them- that if they never discussed it, it didn't exist.

And he was just as willing to sign on to that agreement.

_I'm over it_, Alec thought in his mind.

But something in the rush traveling through him and his increased heart rate as soon as her arm latched onto his told him that he could never just 'get over' being only a boy-toy to Max.

----------------------------------------------

The pair had quite an effect as they entered the place. It wasn't that the entrance was loud or obnoxious; the two just had quite a presence. Separate, both called all the attention in the room. But together, there was really no denying their appeal. It was like a Hollywood couple had just waltzed in.

"Welcome!" a hostess greeted them warmly. "Do you have a reservation?"

Alec looked beyond the woman to see Logan and Asha sitting together, enjoying each other's company over some wine.

He couldn't help smirking at how dull they looked together. They looked so cozy in their comfortable silence. Neither looked bored (in fact, they looked quite enthralled with each other! – gag!) despite the fact that they weren't speaking. They were just staring at each other in between sips of what had to be pre-Pulse wine.

_Guess the excitement stays in the bedroom! _he thought to himself amusingly before Max's finger latching onto his ear to pull his attention toward her brought a pained (but somehow, welcome, if only to stop the sight from attacking his senses any further) and abrupt ending to his judgmental stare and thoughts.

"Alec!" she hissed at him before turning again to the woman and flashing a huge, apologetic grin. "We're meeting a friend here. The last name is Cale."

While the woman checked her list, Alec shot Max a desperate stare. "Ow!" he complained in a low voice, ripping his ear away from her before stroking it dramatically.

"It's not _my _fault that society still likes to let the men do the talking," she returned his irritation with what had just happened. "_You _are the guy, Alec!" she continued. "Where are your manners?"

Alec didn't get the chance to defend himself, though. As soon as the comment escaped her lips, the hostess told them their table was ready.

"Great!" Alec replied cheerily (though it was all in jest, which Max noted, and responded to with a quick jab to his ribs while they were still out of eyesight of the ordinary pair).

"Time to meet the parents," Alec whispered in her ear.

Max laughed in response, only out of show. Because she certainly found nothing remotely amusing in the way he referred to her ex-boyfriend as her father.

From across the room, Logan's piercing blue eyes rose, noticing the couple finally as they approached the table.

Max felt her breath become trapped in her throat as her eyes locked with his.

* * *

**a/n**: So what do you all think? I know, the concept has been done before. But I haven't seen it in a while, and hey, I've never done it, so here ya go!

ps. This is what I was planning on being my response to 'the game', although clearly it's not a sequel


	2. Past Curfew

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Dark Angel or the characters  
**Setting**: After Love Among the Runes; Freak Nation occurred, too... but Logan stayed away during the flag raising ceremony  
**Genre**: Humor, Romance  
**Pairings:** see intro, please!  
**Rating**: T (as always!)

_a series of 'dates' to keep up the trangenic showmance..._

* * *

**intro**: Max is still in love with Logan. At least, that's what she thinks. Logan's over Max. At least, that's what he thinks. Alec's just there for the ride, no strings attached. At least, that's what he thinks. Asha's loving that Logan is finally hers. At least, that's what she thinks. Everything is right in everyone's little world. But someone's faking. At least, that's what they think. And then there's that question that complicates things even further: Is there ever any truth in pretend?

* * *

**Chapter 2: Past Curfew**

As they walked over to the table, Alec slid his arm comfortably around Max's hips, careful to stroke her waistline gently with his thumb in a caressing and affectionate way.

The rush of pleasure that chased through Max's body at his touch gave her cheeks a scarlet tint- just in time to stare face to face with Logan.

Both stared awkwardly for a moment, speechless, until a clearing of Alec's throat prodded Logan to greet the pair. Well, Max.

"Hey," the older man greeted her as a smile twitched across his face.

Alec noted that the man was completely captivated by the sight of Max. A huge grin rested right above the scruffy stubbles of his 5 o'clock shadow. Alec felt a possessive feeling creep up his spine as he watched the man's blue eyes twinkle at Max from beneath the spectacles.

Max swallowed before grinning herself, although Alec could sense underneath his touch that her smile was more out of nerves and politeness than being captured by a breathtaking sight. "Hey, yourself!" she greeted him warmly. Then she turned to the blonde whose hand was affectionately latched into Logan's. "Good to see you, Asha," she told the woman before flashing her a tight smile.

Asha immediately released her grip from Logan's, turning her attention to the transgenic pair. "You too, Max," she replied.

Alec noted the way the blonde beamed, drifting in apparent bliss while sitting there beside Logan. Alec had to keep his groan inward. _This dinner is going to bore me into a coma_.

The transgenic pair stood still for a minute until Asha suddenly found her manners and stood up to move next to Logan, leaving two seats open for them to sit down.

Alec made the polite gesture of holding out the chair for Max. "My lady," he whispered, mocking the expected behavior of the establishment.

Max felt his breath tickle the back of her neck as the words came to her senses. She knew that she was in for a rough night. Alec undoubtedly would try to unhinge her. He found the utmost pleasure in the twisted thrill of sending Max into a fury, and he knew just the right buttons to press. Max hated his ability to get underneath her skin. And the arrogant smirk that always followed one of his rude comments only made it that much worse.

But tonight, she was going to have to feign nothing but pleasure at his rude gestures. She would have to convince them all that beneath the cocky grins and immeasurable ego lay a person that she could call 'boyfriend'.

Max's thoughts only increased the tension taking over her. _I really should have practiced this,_ she thought with an inward groan, before she questioned herself more. _Practice? _How was she expected to practice? Compliment Alec in advance so it wouldn't feel so unnatural as it rolled off her tongue?

"Max?" Logan repeated.

Her attention was immediately sent back to the group. "I'm sorry," she said with a grin to excuse her wandering mind. "I didn't hear what you said."

"Asha just asked you something-"

"It's not important," Asha immediately excused. She gently placed a hand on Logan's shoulder, her request for him to let it go.

"Well it's important to me," Logan continued. "So tell us, Max. How _are _the rations?"

Max blinked once as she tried to collect herself. Her mind was preoccupied with holding herself together so that she would make it through the evening without strangling Alec. His question brought her mind out of the fog and back to reality. Finally, the delayed meaning of his question hit her, bringing her lips into a thin line.

_He wants to discuss business? _Now?

As she was gathering her thoughts, Alec's voice broke the silence. "The rations are holding out just fine," he tried to end the line of questioning before it had started.

"We're always here for you, Max," Asha told her.

Max couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was growing more and more difficult to keep a straight face. "_We_?" She couldn't stop the word from escaping her lips.

"Logan and I," Asha clarified calmly, studying Max to see where the confusion could have come from.

Max looked back up and flashed a huge grin at the pair. "Will you excuse me for just a moment? I'm so sorry, I have to use the lady's."

With that, she stood up and departed from the table.

"Wait," Alec called after her. "I'll go with you."

Max gave him a death-glare above her devilish grin. "But I'm going to the _ladies_, silly. No boys allowed." Her voice was deceptively sweet as it poured out of her.

"I'll escort you," Alec said with a warm grin, following her despite the unspoken threat.

* * *

Once they were out of Ordinary earshot, Alec leaned his face toward hers and spoke quietly so that no one else would hear. "You wanna tell me what that was all about?" 

Max gave him a dejected look before rolling her eyes. "What? Like I said, I can't hold it forever."

Alec frowned, seeing right through the lie. "Max, why are you here if you don't want to be?"

Max glared at him for his nerve. "I don't have a choice," she said flatly.

Alec nodded, pretending to accept her words for a moment, until he spoke again. "Right… that's not the Max I know. What was all that, 'Will you excuse me?' 'I'm so sorry'?"

His words did nothing to ease her tension. "Just because you are a blunt asshole doesn't mean all of us are." She glared vehemently at him as she finished.

Alec's hazel eyes flashed for an instant, shining with an open light that Max almost recognized as hurt; until they shuttered immediately, and the emotion vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Fine," he said flatly. "You want to do this, go ahead. But _do _it. I'm not gonna sit here and watch some half-assed show to appease Logan. You're either in this, or you're not."

"You act like we _aren't _already here!" Max spat at him.

"Well then, treat this like a mission," Alec continued.

"I'm not a soldier," Max dismissed flatly.

Alec rolled his eyes. "You've done cover work before. I didn't think pretending to care about someone would be so difficult for you."

Max searched his eyes for the meaning of his comment, but the hazel set was carefully masked, empty of emotion.

Apparently, he was taking his own advice.

"Fine!" Max snapped at him. "But I'm not gonna do this the Manticore way. I'll do it my way."

"Meaning?" Alec pressed.

Max answered him by sliding his arm around her waist, careful to ignore the tingling sensation that raced up her spine at the contact. The truth was, his touch had a way of pushing all her worries to a far corner of her mind.

"I've got my game face on," she told him, her full lips pulling into a smile.

His lips also curved into a grin as he followed suit in her actions and pulled her closer to him. "That makes two of us," he said simply before the pair confidently made their way back to the table.

* * *

They returned to find the Ordinary pair laughing and enjoying some appetizers. "Oh, hope you don't mind, the waitress came by after you left," Asha told them. 

"I got you adry martiniMax," Logan told her, an openness shining in his blue eyes. "I know it's your favorite."

"Thanks," Max said with a thin smile. The comment had managed to unhinge her slightly. Her heart was still connected to him, as much as she tried to push the feelings away.

"Oh, how sweet," Alec mumbled, but couldn't say more as his leg was struck with a hard kick coming from Max underneath the table.

Logan's stare rose to meet the transgenic eye to eye. It was clear he hadn't heard the comment but had an idea that Alec had said something. "I missed that. What'd you say?" he asked, looking curious.

Alec flashed a charming smile and tried not to overdo it. Max might like to think that Alec was the rude one tonight, but Logan always seemed to speak and walk with an air of arrogance surrounding him as though he were better than them. Max had never given Alec the opportunity of drinking around him other than a few beers at Crash. But she didn't strike him as a 'dry martini' kind of girl. As Alec continued to try and bottle his growing irritation, he realized that he couldn't put off answering much longer. Just as Max was about to answer for him, he cleared his throat to respond. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking how I've never seen Max with a dry martini. At least, not since you two broke up."

The tension the comment caused was clear in Logan's facial expression. He'd never been very good at hiding his opinions. Something about proclaiming them to the world through streaming video may have had a way of hurting his tact.

After a pause, Logan regained his composure. "Well, it's good to see that Max has… moved on to new things." The smile following the remark was smug, but at least he was trying.

Alec never did know when to quit, so he spoke further and this time without much thought beforehand. "Oh yeah, we're trying lots of … new things," he trailed vaguely, flashing his signature smirk combined with a suggestive wiggling of his brow. "Right, Maxie?" he finished.

Max smiled awkwardly before saying, "A dry martini will be fine."

Another tense silence fell over the table before someone finally broke it. "Oh, Logan," Asha said suddenly, "Tell them about the meeting you had earlier! With that guy who worked with your father."

Logan immediately led into a story that must have been one of those 'you-had-to-be-there's.

* * *

Alec's enthusiasm and hopes for the possibilities of the evening were fast fading with the intense boredom that had successfully taken over most of his senses. As he scanned the menu a 5th time in yet another failed attempt to block out the boring 'conversation' that was going on around him, Alec found himself having a difficult time sitting still in his boredom. 

"And so I said to the man," Logan went on with his story that was entirely lacking of interest or humor, "'Don't you dare! I have to return that in the morning!'"

Alec noted out of the corner of his eye that Max was having just as much difficulty paying attention to the story. It seemed her interests were elsewhere, as he noticed her stare absently wandering in his direction.

* * *

The corner of his eye met Max's, sending a rush of warmth through her. Without holding a true stare, both knew where the other's attention lay. Max brushed off the feeling easily, blaming his attention on an attempt to keep up the charade. Still, once he met her eye, she quickly withdrew her sights, like a schoolgirl caught ogling her crush. 

Specifically, Max turned her attention to the quickest thing her eyeballs could find, which happened to be a shiny fork resting beside her plate.

* * *

Max's stare was so intense, that, had Alec known better, he would have guessed it was a fascinating work of art instead of a simple dining utensil that held her gaze. 

Witnessing her complete stubbornness was amusing for Alec. A smirk spread across his face despite his utter boredom with the current situation. The knowledge that Max was currently pouring her eyes into a fork in an effort to distract herself from turning her attention toward Alec had a way of lightening his mood.

* * *

While Max was trying to ignore Alec's stares and Logan's conversation, she found her focus on her fork pulled by none other than Alec's confident voice. The quiet trail barely made its way to her ears, but they perked immediately at hearing his familiar voice. 

"Beer," he whispered in a voice so low that he knew only a transgenic, only Max, would hear.

Max turned immediately toward him, eyes wide.

"You wanted a beer," he guessed in his whisper of a voice, bringing her attention to the nearly full glass that Logan had ordered for her.

Max for once didn't know how to react. Normally, she had two options with Alec – slap him or slap him. It was one of the few times she'd heard him say something expecting nothing in return, no angry reaction or flirtatious comeback.

While Max was taken by surprise, the waitress came back to check on the group, taking note of how full Max's glass was.

"Do you not like Dave's Martini?" she asked Max politely.

"Oh, no, it's great," Max reassured her.

"I can bring you something else," the waitress offered.

"You heard her, she's fine," Logan interjected. "It's just been a while, hasn't it Max?"

Max caught his longing stare and knew he was drifting into the past at that very moment. She chanced looking at Alec out of the corner of her eye and noticed that he was giving Logan a rather aggressive, territorial stare.

"Actually, a beer would be nice," Max said, offering her first genuine smile of the evening.

"And you ordered all on your own," Alec remarked smartly once the waitress had left. "I'm so proud of my girl."

Max rolled her eyes, but there was less tension to her as she did so. "Let's just make it to dessert," she said.

* * *

"You should have seen his face," Logan finished with a light chuckle. 

Max's ears wandered, picking up on the usual sounds of the restaurant- footsteps as people poured in, the sharp clang of silverware hitting pans from the kitchen, and the quiet laughter from a couple five tables away. The absence of a voice droning right in front of her told her that the conversation finally had a break.

"So, Asha," she started, taking the opportunity to turn the conversation away from any more of Logan's stories or that question she was most hoping to avoid ('How are things with you and Alec?'), "How's the S1W doing? I haven't heard anything about you guys lately. Well, I guess I wouldn't, since Logan always used to tell me about that stuff." Somehow the casual question ended awkwardly as Max reminded the entire table (like _anyone _could forget!) that she and Logan had been together only a short time before.

"Oh, we're doing great," Asha told Max warmly. "Eyes Only is helping us on a few things. We've managed to stay under the radar for a while… Gives us time to plan our next event."

Max nodded in fake interest. "That sounds great!"

Asha accepted her gratitude with a grin. "It really is." Her stare then turned to Logan. "Of course, we've had a lot of extra resources lately. Logan's been wonderful."

With that, Asha took a moment to squeeze Logan's hand with appreciation as she stared affectionately into his eyes.

Max couldn't take her stare away from the simple act of affection in front of her. Witnessing a couple holding hands shouldn't have been so striking. But Max wasn't watching just any couple. The way that Logan interlocked fingers with the woman he loved, all right in front of her eyes, brought a pain to Max's heart. All of the affection between Max and Logan had been confined behind a pair of rubber gloves. Touch was just one aspect of closeness in a normal relationship that Manticore had ripped away from her.

* * *

Alec noticed the unspoken pain that Max was experiencing. The show of togetherness in front of her only served to make her feel alone. 

Alec wasn't much for handholding or being just another warm body, but he knew how much it would mean to her, so he showed his affection in his own way. He put his arm around her, gently nudging her to come closer.

Max absently fell into him, enjoying the comfort it gave her to have a man's arm wrapped so snuggly around her. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and forgot about the game plan for a few moments. If Alec dared to try and use her moment of vulnerability against her later, she would blame it on nostalgia and loneliness.

* * *

**a/n**: I don't know what possessed me to update this and I'm sorry that I can't promise anything. Regardless, I really appreciate any feedback and of course that you even read this at all. Thanks so much! Until next date...? tentatively titled 'love at first charade'


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